2009 California Vehicle Code - Section 21350-21376 :: Article 1. Erection And Maintenance

VEHICLE CODE
SECTION 21350-21376

21350.  The Department of Transportation shall place and maintain,
or cause to be placed and maintained, with respect to highways under
its jurisdiction, appropriate signs, signals, and other traffic
control devices as required hereunder, and may place and maintain, or
cause to be placed and maintained, such appropriate signs, signals,
or other traffic control devices as may be authorized hereunder, or
as may be necessary properly to indicate and to carry out the
provisions of this code, or to warn or guide traffic upon the
highways. The Department of Transportation may, with the consent of
the local authorities, also place and maintain, or cause to be placed
and maintained, in or along city streets and county roads,
appropriate signs, signals, and other traffic control devices, or may
perform, or cause to be performed, such other work on city streets
and county roads, as may be necessary or desirable to control, or
direct traffic, or to facilitate traffic flow, to or from or on state
highways.

21351.  Local authorities in their respective jurisdictions shall
place and maintain or cause to be placed and maintained such traffic
signs, signals and other traffic control devices upon streets and
highways as required hereunder, and may place and maintain or cause
to be placed and maintained, such appropriate signs, signals or other
traffic control devices as may be authorized hereunder or as may be
necessary properly to indicate and to carry out the provisions of
this code or local traffic ordinances or to warn or guide traffic.

21351.3.  Local authorities in their respective jurisdictions may
place and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, speed
limit, speed advisory, and mileage signs, or suitable plates affixed
to or near existing signs, which indicate speeds and distances both
in common standards of measures, as specified in Section 12302 of the
Business and Professions Code, and in measures of the metric system
authorized by Congress.

21351.5.  The Department of Transportation or local authorities,
with respect to highways under their respective jurisdictions, may
erect stop signs to require the traffic on a highway to stop before
crossing any railroad grade crossing designated by the agency having
jurisdiction of the highway as a major crossing with a demonstrated
need for stop signs, except a railroad grade crossing which is
controlled by automatic signals, gates, or other train-actuated
control devices.

21351.7.  Local authorities in their respective jurisdictions may
place and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, appropriate
signs along city streets or county roads which indicate that a deaf
child is near.

21352.  The Department of Transportation may erect stop signs at any
entrance to any state highway and whenever the department determines
that it is necessary for the public safety and the orderly and
efficient use of the highways by the public, the department may erect
and maintain, or cause to be erected and maintained, on any state
highway any traffic control signal or any official traffic control
device regulating or prohibiting the turning of vehicles upon the
highway, allocating or restricting the use of specified lanes or
portions of the highway by moving vehicular traffic, establishing
crosswalks at or between intersections, or restricting use of the
right-of-way by the public for other than highway purposes.

21353.  No local authority, except by permission of the Department
of Transportation, shall erect or maintain any stop sign or traffic
control signal in such manner as to require the traffic on any state
highway to stop before entering or crossing any intersecting highway
or any railroad grade crossing.

21354.  Subject to the provisions of Section 21353, a local
authority may designate any highway under its jurisdiction as a
through highway and may erect stop signs at entrances thereto or may
designate any intersection under its exclusive jurisdiction as a stop
intersection and erect stop signs at one or more entrances thereto.

21355.  (a) Stop signs erected under Section 21350, 21351, 21352, or
21354 may be erected either at or near the entrance to an
intersection.
   The Department of Transportation and local authorities in their
respective jurisdictions may erect stop signs at any location so as
to control traffic within an intersection.
   When a required stop is to apply at the entrance to an
intersection from a one-way street with a roadway of 30 feet or more
in width, stop signs shall be erected both on the left and the right
sides of the one-way street at or near the entrance to the
intersection.
   Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, stop signs shall
not be erected at any entrance to an intersection controlled by
official traffic control signals, nor at any railroad grade crossing
which is controlled by automatic signals, gates, or other
train-actuated control devices except where a stop sign may be
necessary to control traffic on intersecting highways adjacent to the
grade crossing or when a local authority determines, with the
approval of the Public Utilities Commission pursuant to Section
21110, that a railroad grade crossing under its jurisdiction presents
a danger warranting a stop sign in addition to a train-activated
control device.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), local authorities, with
respect to streets under their jurisdiction, are not required to
conform lawfully established intersection configurations existing on
January 1, 1985, to meet the requirements of subdivision (a) until
January 1, 1990.

21356.  The Department of Transportation or local authorities, with
respect to highways under their respective jurisdictions, may erect
yield right-of-way signs at the entrances to intersections or
highways. Such yield right-of-way signs shall not be erected upon the
approaches to more than one of the intersecting streets.
   Yield right-of-way signs shall be located at or near the entrance
to the intersection or highway where motorists are required to yield
the right-of-way.

21356.5.  Local authorities may place signs, mirrors, or other
visual or audible devices at exits from alleys that are under their
jurisdiction to warn drivers to watch for pedestrians and bicyclists
on the sidewalk prior to exiting the alley.

21357.  Speed restriction signs may, but need not, be erected upon
any highway other than a state highway at the entrance thereof into a
business or residence district unless required in this chapter.

21358.  Where one or more business and residence districts are
contiguous, or where, as authorized by this code, speed is to be
restricted between two districts, either business or residence, or at
the end of either thereof, speed restriction signs affecting traffic
on other than state highways as required by Sections 21357 and 21359
need be erected and maintained only at the boundaries of the outside
limits of the area in which speed is to be restricted.

21359.  Whenever the Department of Transportation or a local
authority as authorized by this code determines and declares a speed
limit different from the limit otherwise applicable under Sections
22349 and 22352, appropriate speed restriction signs shall be erected
and maintained at the outside entrance of the highway or portion
thereof upon which the special speed limit is applicable. The special
speed limit is not effective until appropriate signs have been
erected.

21360.  Local authorities in their respective jurisdictions may,
within the reasonable exercise of their police power and subject to
Section 21353, place and maintain official traffic control devices to
regulate traffic at the intersection of a highway and a private road
or driveway. Official traffic control devices may be erected at or
near such intersection, except no such device shall be erected upon a
private road or driveway without consent of the owner thereof. When
official traffic control devices are installed and in operation, the
private road or driveway shall be deemed a highway only for the
purpose of determining the existence and location of an intersection.

21361.  (a) When the outermost boundaries of two or more
intersections are confined within a distance of 200 feet, the
Department of Transportation in respect to state highways, and a
local authority with respect to highways under its jurisdiction,
shall have the power to designate a single intersection by the
installation and operation of traffic signals which may be
supplemented by signs or markings. When so designated, the single
intersection shall be the legal intersection for the purposes of
traffic movement and regulation.
   (b) Whenever a single intersection has been designated by the
Department of Transporation or by local authorities as set forth in
subdivision (a), the department or such authorities may designate
marked crosswalks at certain locations within the intersection or
contiguous thereto, and when the marked crosswalks are established,
they shall constitute the only crosswalks at the intersection. The
department or the local authorities shall erect signs prohibiting
pedestrian crossing at locations which, except for the provisions of
this section, would constitute unmarked crosswalks.

21362.  Railroad warning approach signs shall be erected by local
authorities upon the right-hand side of each approach of every
highway under their jurisdiction to a grade crossing of a railroad or
electric interurban railway at a reasonable distance from the
crossing.

21362.5.  (a) Railroad and rail transit grade crossings may be
equipped with an automated rail crossing enforcement system if the
system is identified by signs clearly indicating the system's
presence and visible to traffic approaching from each direction.
   Only a governmental agency, in cooperation with a law enforcement
agency, may operate an automated rail crossing enforcement system.
   (b) Notwithstanding Section 6253 of the Government Code, or any
other provision of law, photographic records made by an automated
rail crossing enforcement system shall be confidential, and shall be
made available only to governmental agencies and law enforcement
agencies for the purposes of this section.

21363.  Detour signs shall be erected at the nearest points of
detour from that portion of a highway, or from any bridge, which is
closed to traffic while under construction or repair.

21364.  The Department of Transportation may authorize an owner of
land adjacent to a state highway to erect and maintain signs to
indicate the existence of those places where livestock regularly and
frequently cross a state highway, and any sign so erected and
maintained shall be an official sign. The department shall prescribe
the size, shape and character of the signs, which shall be uniform.

21365.  The Department of Transportation, with respect to state
highways in open range country, and the board of supervisors of each
county, with respect to county highways under its jurisdiction, may
place and maintain appropriate signs indicating that the territory
traversed is open livestock range and warning against the danger of
livestock on the highway.

21366.  At each signal-controlled intersection on streets and
highways, there shall be a street name sign clearly visible to
traffic approaching from all directions. The cost of erecting and
maintaining the street name signs may be paid out of funds derived
from the Highway Users Tax Fund or the Motor Vehicle License Fee
Fund.

21367.  (a)  As provided in Section 125 of the Streets and Highways
Code and in Section 21100 of this code, respectively, the duly
authorized representative of the Department of Transportation or
local authorities, with respect to highways under their respective
jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, persons contracting to
perform construction, maintenance, or repair of a highway, may, with
the approval of the department or local authority, as the case may
be, and while engaged in the performance of that work, restrict the
use of, and regulate the movement of traffic through or around, the
affected area whenever the traffic would endanger the safety of
workers or the work would interfere with or endanger the movement of
traffic through the area. Traffic may be regulated by warning signs,
lights, appropriate control devices, or by a person or persons
controlling and directing the flow of traffic.
   (b) It is unlawful to disobey the instructions of a person
controlling and directing traffic pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (c) It is unlawful to fail to comply with the directions of
warning signs, lights, or other control devices provided for the
regulation of traffic pursuant to subdivision (a).

21368.  Whenever a marked pedestrian crosswalk has been established
in a roadway contiguous to a school building or the grounds thereof,
it shall be painted or marked in yellow as shall be all the marked
pedestrian crosswalks at an intersection in case any one of the
crosswalks is required to be marked in yellow. Other established
marked pedestrian crosswalks may be painted or marked in yellow if
either (a) the nearest point of the crosswalk is not more than 600
feet from a school building or the grounds thereof, or (b) the
nearest point of the crosswalk is not more than 2,800 feet from a
school building or the grounds thereof, there are no intervening
crosswalks other than those contiguous to the school grounds, and it
appears that the facts and circumstances require special painting or
marking of the crosswalks for the protection and safety of persons
attending the school. There shall be painted or marked in yellow on
each side of the street in the lane or lanes leading to all yellow
marked crosswalks the following words, "SLOW--SCHOOL XING," except
that such words shall not be painted or marked in any lane leading to
a crosswalk at an intersection controlled by stop signs, traffic
signals, or yield right-of-way signs. A crosswalk shall not be
painted or marked yellow at any location other than as required or
permitted in this section.

21369.  All speed restriction signs in place on January 1, 1960, are
hereby ratified and confirmed and shall establish the applicable
prima facie speed limit unless and until changed pursuant to
engineering and traffic surveys provided for by this code.

21370.  The Department of Transportation, or its duly authorized
representatives with the approval of the department, while engaged in
the construction of a state highway upon new alignment may restrict
the use of and regulate the movement of traffic upon any highway
intersecting the project at or near the place of intersection
whenever such work interferes with or endangers the safe movement of
traffic through the work.

21372.  The Department of Transportation and local authorities
shall, with respect to highways under their respective jurisdictions,
establish and promulgate warrants to be used as guidelines for the
placement of traffic control devices near schools for the purpose of
protecting students going to and from school. Such devices may
include flashing signals. Such warrants shall be based upon, but need
not be limited to, the following items: pedestrian volumes, vehicle
volumes, width of the roadway, physical terrain, speed of vehicle
traffic, horizontal and vertical alignment of the roadway, the
distance to existing traffic control devices, proximity to the
school, and the degree of urban or rural environment of the area.

21373.  The governing board of any school district may request the
appropriate city, county, city and county or state agency to install
traffic control devices in accordance with the warrants established
pursuant to Section 21372. Within 90 days thereafter, the city,
county, city and county or state agency involved shall undertake an
engineering and traffic survey to determine whether the requested
crossing protection meets the warrants established pursuant to
Section 21372. The city, county, city and county, or state agency
involved may require the requesting school district to pay an amount
not to exceed 50 percent of the cost of the survey. If it is
determined that such requested protection is warranted, it shall be
installed by the city, county, city and county or state agency
involved.

21374.  A local authority may mark or paint the surface of any
street or highway under its jurisdiction, or of any state highway,
with the approval of the Department of Transportation, with lines,
arrows, or other suitable symbols for the purpose of directing
visitors and tourists to local points of interest. No such marking
shall be of a color or configuration which, as determined by the
Department of Transportation, would cause it to be confused with an
official traffic control device.

21375.  (a) The Department of Transportation shall place and
maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, directional signs on
freeways indicating the location of the freeway off ramp which may be
used to reach a public or private postsecondary education
institution having an enrollment of either 1,000 or more full-time
students or the equivalent in part-time students, at the request of
the institution. No signs shall be erected pursuant to this
subdivision until the department has received donations from private
sources covering the costs of erecting the signs.
   (b) The Department of Transportation shall place and maintain, or
cause to be placed and maintained, freeway directional signs for any
institution described in subdivision (a) for which freeway
directional signs had previously been erected and which has, on or
after January 1, 1980, moved to another location, if that move was
done to contribute to the improvement of the institution, as
determined by the department. Freeway directional signs erected
pursuant to this subdivision shall be at no cost to the institution.
   (c) Subdivision (a) applies to a public or private postsecondary
institution which is located within two miles of the freeway in a
major metropolitan area, within four miles of the freeway in an urban
area, or within five miles of the freeway in a rural area.
Subdivision (b) applies to a public or private postsecondary
education institution which has moved to a location which is within
the distances specified in this subdivision.

21376.  The Department of Transportation shall place and maintain on
each major state highway entering the state within 500 feet after
the state line, a sign that states that the abandonment or dumping of
any animal is a crime punishable by a fine of up to one thousand
dollars ($1,000) or confinement in a county jail of up to six months,
or both.


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